Dr Penny Griffin | UNSW Research

My Expertise

Gender, sexuality and feminism; queer theory; global political economy; international relations; global governance; financial/economic crisis; popular culture in/and world politics.

Keywords

global political economy

international affairs

economic development

gender in organisations

popular culture

2008 global financial crisis

Fields of Research (FoR)

Political economy and social change, Political science, International relations, Development studies, Feminist and queer theory, Gender, policy and administration, Other human society, Other human society not elsewhere classified

SEO tags

Gender

Gender and Sexualities

International Political Economy (excl. International Trade)

International Relations

Government and Politics

Economic issues

Biography

Dr Penny Griffin is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations in the School of Social Sciences at UNSW Sydney. She works specifically in the areas of gender, sexuality and feminist studies, international political economy, the politics of development, global economic governance, international relations, and the (gendered) politics of visual and popular culture. Penny has published widely, including with Routledge (Popular Culture, Political Economy and the Death of Feminism: Why Women are in Refrigerators and Other Stories, 2015), Palgrave Macmillan (Gendering the World Bank, 2009)) and in various top-ranked academic journals. Gendering the World Bank was the winner of the 2010 BISA International Political Economy Group (IPEG) Book Prize. Her current research examines economic crisis from a gender perspective.

Penny is currently ADA Co-Champion (Disability and Mental Health) and is a member of the UNSW EDI Staff Consultative Group. She is also the current Chair of the International Studies Association's Women's Caucus (WCIS), which works to advance the status of all those who identify as women working in the international studies profession.

Research Areas

Gender, feminism(s) and sexuality(ies) in IR and IPE
International political economy (IPE)
The politics of development
Global economic governance
International relations (IR)
Visual and popular culture in world politics

My Grants

UNSW Gendered Violence Strategy Grant, 'Gendered Violence: Identify, Interrupt, Disrupt', with Shannon Graddon and Juwariya Malik (2023-2024).

My Qualifications

Ph.D. Politics and International Relations (University of Bristol); MSc. Research Methods; MSc. International Relations (with Commendation); B.A. Hons. (French and Politics, First Class Honours)

My Awards

2010 International Political Economy Group of the British International Studies Association (BISA) Book Prize for Gendering the World Bank: Neoliberalism and the Gendered Foundations of Global Governance (Palgrave Macmillan 2009, http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=308031).

My Research Supervision

Supervision keywords

gender

feminism

global political economy

queer studies

international relations

governance

economic development

government and economy

popular culture

aesthetics

empowerment

Areas of supervision

Penny welcomes enquiries from prospective research students and media on all topics relevant to gender and world politics, particularly the following:

Gender, feminism and sexuality(ies) in international relations, political economy and/or global governance.
Visual, popular culture and gender/feminism in world politics.
Gender studies of economic development, international organisations and/or global governance.
Intersectional and/or post/decolonial gender.

Postgraduate Research Completions

Dr Cara Heaven, PhD Politics and International Relations, 2024, From the International to the Domestic Sphere: The Diffusion, Adoption and Internalisation of Good Governance in the Australian Aid Program.
Dr Alba Boer Cueva, PhD Politics and International Relations, 2023, Colombian Women's Stories of Empowerment and (In)Security in Conflict: A Decolonial Feminist Approach.
Dr Caitlin Biddolph, PhD Politics and International Relations, 2022, Queering Governance at/of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY): Discourses of Gender, Sexuality, and Violence.
Dr Lucy Hall, PhD Politics and International Relations, 2019, Gender, the 'Responsibility to Protect' and Internal Displacament.
Dr Caitlin Hamilton, PhD Politics and International Relations, 2017, Exploding Nuclear Discourse: Logics of Gender and Race in Discourse on Nuclear Weapons Technology.
Dr Maryam Khalid, PhD Politics and International Relations, 2013, Gendered Logic(s) of Orientalism: Representation, Discourse, and Intervention in the War on Terror.

Currently supervising

Shutong Chen, PhD, Transnational Queer Activists in Australia: The Civic Participation and Diaspora Activism of Chinese Queer.
Andre Nassiri, PhD, Informal Urban Futures: Alternative Pathways for Development and Decolonisation in the 'Modern' African Mega-City.
Gia Rechberger-Carson, PhD, The Politics of Postfeminism and Contemporary Romance Fiction: The Relationship Between TikTok, Romance Fiction and Reading Culture in Contemporary World Politics.

My Engagement

Media and Public Engagement

Griffin, P. (2022), 'Missing Women: Why Countries Won't Recover From COVID-19 Until Some Serious Gender Work is Done', Australian Outlook, Australian Institute of International Affairs, 8 March, https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/missing-women-why-countries-wont-recover-from-covid-19-until-some-serious-gender-work-is-done/.
Griffin, P. (2022), 'Explainer: International Women's Day', Australian Human Rights Institute, 7 March, https://www.humanrights.unsw.edu.au/research/commentary/explainer-international-womens-day.
Griffin, P. (2018), ‘Economic Ideas in Political Time: Reflections from a Grumpy Feminist’, Progress in Political Economy blogsite.
Griffin, P. (2017), Convenor/Chair of The Uncondemned film screening, UNSW Sydney, including chaired panel roundtable discussion post-screening, feat. Dr. Babere Chacha (University of Laikipia), Prof. Laura Shepherd (University of Sydney), Prof. Sarah Williams (UNSW Law).
Griffin, P. (2017), ‘Gender, Popular Culture and the (False) Death of Feminism’, Public presentation for Sydney Mechanics School of Arts, 27^th September, https://smsa.org.au/events/.
Griffin, P. (2017), ‘Smashing the Patriarchy’, Sydney Writers’ Festival, invited panellist and presenter.
Griffin, P. (2016), ‘Feminism and Motherhood’, invited interview for Empowering Motherhood with Tara Darlington (interview), 19^th April, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/empoweringmotherhood/2016/04/27/feminism-and-motherhood-with-dr-penny-griffin (50 minutes).
Griffin, P. (2015), ‘Popular Culture, Political Economy and the Death of Feminism’, Progress in Political Economy blogsite, 1 July, http://ppesydney.net/author/penny-griffin/.
Schwenke, L. S. (2013), ‘My Name is Woman!’, Photographic Exhibition, 8^th November, Sydney, Australia (I featured as part of an exhibition of 20 women’s stories, with photos).
Griffin, P. (2010), ‘Why Gender Matters in/to the Global Political Economy’, e-International Relations, 21 June, http://www.e-ir.info/2010/06/21/why-gender-matters-into-the-global-economy/.

Editorial Work

Editorial Board, Gender in Global Politics Book Series (https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-in-Gender-and-Global-Politics/book-series/GGP, Routledge).
Editorial Board, Global Political Economies of Gender and Sexuality Book Series (https://www.rowmaninternational.com/our-publishing/series/global-political-economies-of-gender-and-sexuality/, Rowman and Littlefield International).
Editorial Board, Transforming Capitalism Book Series (https://www.rowmaninternational.com/our-publishing/series/transforming-capitalism/, Rowman and Littlefield International)
International Advisory Board, Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy Book Series (https://www.palgrave.com/us/series/14465; http://www.springer.com/series/14465, Palgrave Macmillan)

Professional Contributions

Chair, Women's Caucus for International Studies (WCIS) (2024-2025).
Program Chair, Women's Caucus for International Studies (WCIS) (2023-2024).
Member-at-large, Women’s Caucus for International Studies (International Studies Association), https://www.isanet.org/ISA/Caucuses/Womens-Caucus (2018 - 2019).
Co-convenor, BISA Gendering International Relations Working Group (GIRWG) (with Julia Welland, University of Warwick), https://www.bisa.ac.uk/members/working-groups/girwg (2016 – 2018, elected position).
Judging Committee member, Australian International Political Economy Network (AIPEN) “Richard Higgott” Article Prize, https://www.ppesydney.net (2015 - 2017).
Peer Review, Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Initiative.
Subject Assessment, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings.
Judging Panel member, British International Studies Association (BISA) International Political Economy Group (IPEG) Book Prize, http://www.bisa-ipeg.org/purpose-activities-of-ipeg/ipeg-book-prize/.

Professional Memberships

Australian International Political Economy Network (AIPEN)
Australian Political Science Association (APSA)
British International Studies Association (BISA)
International Political Economy Group (IPEG)
International Studies Association (ISA)
Women's Caucus for International Studies (WCIS)
Women, Peace and Security Academic Collective (https://wpsac.wordpress.com)

My Teaching

2024

ARTS3756 Current Debates in Global Development (T2)
ARTS2849 Popular Culture and World Politics (T3)
ARTS3812 Manias, Panics and Crashes: Global Political Economy in an Era of Crisis (T3)

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